Free Event: How Creators Capture Attention—and What Democracy Can Learn

Democracy needs better stories. On January 22, the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard’s Ash Center hosts an online webinar exploring how creators and artists make democracy feel vivid, relevant, and worth caring about—especially for younger audiences. Drawing lessons from television, podcasts, science fiction, and online creator communities, the session looks beyond alarm bells and academic frames to ask what actually captures attention and moves people to engage. The webinar takes place online on January 22 (time listed on the registration page) and is hosted by the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard University. Registration is open now at https://ash.harvard.edu/events/making-democracy-interesting-tips-from-tv-podcasts-science-fiction-and-online-creators/

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​Democracy advocates have spent years sounding the alarm about democratic erosion, institutional decline, and threats to self-governance. Yet for many people—especially younger generations—these warnings fall flat. Dire predictions and urgent exhortations haven't brought disillusioned citizens back into civic life. The challenge isn't just getting people to care about democracy; it's making democracy feel relevant, interesting, and worth engaging with in the first place.
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The Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard's Ash Center is tackling this question head-on with a January 22 webinar that explores how accomplished storytellers across multiple media bring democracy issues to their audiences in creative and compelling ways. Rather than retreating to familiar academic or advocacy frameworks, the session brings together voices from television, podcasts, science fiction, social media, and online creator communities to examine what actually captures attention and moves people—particularly young people navigating an overwhelming information landscape.

Learning from Creators Who Connect

The speaker lineup reflects the breadth of media and approaches available to democracy practitioners willing to think beyond traditional civic engagement formats. Baratunde Thurston brings insights from his podcast How to Citizen and TV series America Outdoors, demonstrating how to make democratic participation feel accessible and energizing rather than dutiful and exhausting. Science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson offers perspectives on how speculative storytelling can help people imagine different democratic futures—his novel The Ministry for the Future explores how societies might respond to climate catastrophe through new forms of collective decision-making and global cooperation.

The session also features voices attuned to younger audiences and digital-native formats. Dillon St. Bernard, whose Team DSB focuses specifically on Gen Z engagement, brings expertise on purpose-driven media that resonates with generations skeptical of traditional institutions. Matt Fitzgerald, co-founder of #TeamWater—the largest creator-led philanthropy campaign ever—offers insights on how online creators mobilize communities around shared values and action. Renee DiResta and Gideon Lichfield contribute perspectives on misinformation, media ecosystems, and how narratives shape political reality. For NCDD practitioners and civic engagement professionals, this conversation offers essential lessons about meeting people where they are rather than where we wish they were. The dialogue and deliberation field has deep expertise in process design and facilitation, but often struggles with broader cultural engagement—making the work visible, compelling, and relevant to people outside existing civic networks. Learning from storytellers who successfully capture attention and move audiences can help practitioners expand democratic participation beyond the already-engaged.
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Ready to explore how creative storytelling can make democracy more compelling and accessible? Register for the Allen Lab webinar on January 22 at https://ash.harvard.edu/events/making-democracy-interesting-tips-from-tv-podcasts-science-fiction-and-online-creators/